Hello my favorite TIS Supporters!
Firstly, I want to thank everyone who participated in Lip Sync Battle 2025…Donors, volunteers, the performing teams and TIS staff who worked so hard to reach our goal of $125,000! We could not have raised these crucial funds without the help of each and every one of you.
The event was a great success, thanks to those who worked so hard to make it a spectacularly joyful evening of showcasing the talent and ingenuity of each team that created videos and live performances to uplift our neighbors who are struggling to find stability. I dearly love how this community comes together to support those in need. Our guests were in the audience and they really felt the love.
This fantastic fundraiser brings in 1/10 of TIS’s current yearly budget, and in this coming fiscal year that budget will grow, as we work to serve even more of our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness. We will continue to need the robust support of our community to do so.
Talbot County has a LOT of non-profits, and they are all doing amazing and crucial work in our community. TIS partners with many of them, and their Directors are all very concerned about the pulse of the nation right now, as they see their government funds being pulled back. While I am proud to say that TIS takes very little government money (thanks to supporters like you!), the fact remains that as other organizations are losing their grants from the state and federal levels, the competition for your dollars gets even more heated.
I am so thankful that you believe in TIS and our mission, and I would like to appeal to you to bring others into the fold. Our Board of Directors has a strategic plan in place to continue to grow and to serve even more of our neighbors who are experiencing the traumas of homelessness, but we cannot do that without your support, and the support of the entire community. So, when you’re having friends over for dinner, or sitting with your book club or country club friends, please tell them what you love about TIS.
There are so many success stories to tell, and last week, a family who was with us in 2016 came to visit us from where they live in Ohio, just to see the people who helped them to turn their lives around, and to show their immense gratitude. Let me quote what the mom of the family wrote to me after their visit: “We are so happy to come back and see you again, for you are for us the greatest Angels in our hearts. We are very happy, we feel great peace and incredible happiness. You are so special. Thank you… and thank you for receiving us, and for loving us so much. Next time we will be your volunteers, to help and to make a delicious Puerto Rican meal. Thank you again, thank you very much. See you again very soon.”
This is from a beautiful woman who could barely speak English when they came to TIS. Some of you may remember this family. Young AJ was our ‘greeter’ when he was in the house. At 11, he would stick out his hand and introduce himself to any volunteer or visitor he encountered. He is now graduating from high school and going into the army. AJ says he will return to live in Maryland when he is out of the service, because this is where he feels at home and at peace, largely due to TIS and the support he felt here from not only staff, but also the volunteers who come during the day to provide assistance with meals and answering doors and telephones.
This is why we do the work we do. It is not easy work, but for each individual or family who embraces the Program, it is life-changing. When we can see families and individuals we know so closely for a time become able to rise out of poverty and to enjoy life, no longer grappling just to find shelter or food, but actually thriving, it makes it all worthwhile. And it is people like YOU who make that a reality.
With my deepest gratitude,
-Julie Lowe